Solar energy goes dark and Massachusetts pays

From the Boston Globe: "Plant will shut after $58m in state aid."

Evergreen Solar Inc. will eliminate 800 jobs in Massachusetts and shut its new factory at the former military base in Devens, just two years after it opened the massive facility to great fanfare and with about $58 million in taxpayer subsidies.

The company announced yesterday that it will close the plant by the end of March, calling itself a victim of weak demand and competition from cheaper suppliers in China, where the government provides solar companies with generous subsidies.

Further down, we find that:

In exchange for the state’s help, Evergreen initially agreed to employ 350 people at the Devens plant for seven years.

If this were any other industry than clean energy, Bay Staters would be in their rights to wonder if they've been taken in by corporate scamsters. What I think is more likely is that the founders at Evergreen assisted by Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick put hope and environmental morality ahead of market research and business planning. And that's just fine when it's private investors or bondholders putting their money up for funding. Instead, Massachusetts taxpayers underwrote the clean energy dream to the tune of $58 million and 350 now-unemployed workers.